All photographs above taken weekend of Dec 31, 2005 NYC Carriage Horse Accident: The Carriage Horse accident last night was almost a funny story to some of my colleagues at AP who told me about it today. I read the story in disgust and immediately went to find the writer who I’m told works on the night shift. No a single mention in her copy about the torture these animals has to go through daily. She instead turned the story into an ad for the sick industry, telling readers where the horses can be found and how much it costs for the ride and that they were featured in popular movies and TV shows. If I were to take on one of the two roles being played above, I don't know which I'd want more to be. I believe I can see the red forming... just above the tips of the tail Pale Male over Fifth Avenue. I finally got sick. I guess I wanted to see how much my body would endure, and it sure let me know. I got wet in the snow on Saturday and slept through Sunday into Monday. Today I visited the park (with no camera), and found most everyone in their usual places. I was told that Lola attacked the Great Horned just before I arrived, and also a gang of crows attacked him. I witnessed the second crow attack on the Great Horned around 1:30PM. I thought there were at least ten crows attacking the owl, but shortly after I met up with Nick who said he counted six. So six there were--some perched as close as two feet away and others flying in a tight circle over his head. The Great never moved an inch—only his head turned to survey his attackers. I saw Lola perched on the Oreo TV antenna and then Pale Male settled on the scaffolding on the old Stovepipe Building under construction. The sparrows, pigeons and Big Louie were all out at The Hawk Bench. I walked over to the Upper Lobe of the Lake where I was hoping to treat the ducks and geese to some snacks, but I found the area mostly vacated. Two men armed with six fishing poles sat on the rock and baited their hooks. One at a time they cast their lines into the lake and waited for a little bell tethered on the pole to ring. The two men knew me very well and were probably expecting a lecture from me as they have received in past encounters. I did not have the energy so I merely stared at them. A Canada Goose landed on the water and became entangled with one of the lines. The bells rang out—it delighted the two men. The goose was soon free. Lower down at The Riviera the gray screech was not visible. I fed some of the ducks and geese at the water’s edge. Anne came over to me and we chatted for a while. She told me that she read that The Fish & Wildlife Services just removed Canada Geese from the ‘protected list’ of migratory birds. When I hear the term ‘Fish & Wildlife Service’ I instantly get an image of a brawn man in a uniform decorated with many official patches and a gun strapped to his waist. I looked at the eyes of the few geese that came to the water’s edge and imagined what they will now have to go through. “Central Park Conservancy is going to love this!” said Anne, “I’ve seen them chasing them off The Great Lawn with sticks”. On Saturday morning I shared a table at The Boathouse Café with two elderly bird watchers who told me they witnessed several park workers killing Canada Geese with boat oars about six years ago. I continued feeding the animals and began to survey the land around them. I wondered what would happen if someone outside of this great country—outside of this world for that matter, were to make a list of Earth species that were to be exterminated based on their destructive habits. I then tried to figure out where Canada Geese will fall on that list. All photographs above taken on Friday December 30, 2005 All photographs above taken on Friday December 30, 2005